


Chances

by danisnopeonfire



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Drabble, Ficlet, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-06
Updated: 2015-07-06
Packaged: 2018-04-08 00:50:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4284360
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/danisnopeonfire/pseuds/danisnopeonfire
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After spending a whole day unpacking all their possessions into the new London apartment, Dan and Phil take some time to cool off on the bathroom floor.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Chances

**Author's Note:**

> This is based heavily on Phil's latest live show where he said that he had 'stripped down to his boxers' and 'starfished on the bathroom floor' after he and Dan had finished moving all of their stuff into the new apartment. I thought that was simultaneously hilarious and adorable, so this fic was definitely mandatory!

There is a distinctive type of relief that comes from taking your shoes off after a long day. Phil had always stayed loyal to the fact that it is definitely the _best_ form of relief, but now, as he lies sprawled out on the cool bathroom floor in nothing but his underwear, he's not so sure anymore.

As he stares up at the bathroom ceiling, his eyes run along a circle of damp in the corner. He _swears_ that hadn't been there when they first viewed this place, but that's hardly surprising. The rose-tinted glasses they were wearing when the estate agent showed them around this place were so thick that they could easily have passed by a dead body and not noticed.

He doesn't mind, though. Of course he doesn't. How _could_ he?

Sacrifices are a thing he's become friendly with recently, and he's learned over the past few months that sacrifices are actually fleeting opportunities in the _disguise_ of sacrifices. So he's grown accustomed to grabbing on to every sacrifice he can and investing all of his time into it.

He's also learned that 'sacrifices' is a strange word when he says it too much.

"Phil?" Dan's voice is appropriately filled with panic as it travels down the hallway and into the bathroom where Phil is lying. "Phil, where the hell have you got to? I cannot and _will_ not carry all these boxes by myself."

"I'm in here," Phil calls back. He breaks a smile and shakes his head when he realises just how useless and unhelpful that sentence is, but he doesn't bother to elaborate. Their apartment isn't huge. Dan will find him eventually.

"I _swear_ , I'm not even joking, I—" Dan's words are cut off instantaneously when he reaches the door. He lets out a snort in lieu of his half-finished sentence as he gazes down at the way Phil is sprawled out on the bathroom floor, wearing nothing but his purple boxers.

"You're thinking about shower sex so soon?" Dan lifts an eyebrow. "I can't deny it's a tempting offer, but doesn't it require running water? We're not getting that up and running until Wednesday."

Phil's face heats up and he hides it behind his hands.

"You're pure filth."

Dan hums as he takes a step into the room to nudge Phil's foot with his own, as if prompting him to move.

"Maybe. But you're more lazy than I am filthy." He kicks Phil's foot again with an impatient sigh. "Listen, you're the one who insisted we don't need any help with shifting all of our shit into this place. You're not exactly helping yourself to prove that."

Phil lets out a whine and drops his arm so that it's splayed over his forehead.

"It's too _hot_ to move, though."

"And yet oddly I'm managing." Dan laughs.

"My skin feels like it's slowly dripping off my body. I think I need to see a doctor."

"You can indulge in all the doctors you like once you've helped me haul these boxes upstairs." Dan pauses for a second. "In fact, I'm pretty sure we have the equipment needed to treat you right here. But, oh wait, it's all packed away in these shitty _boxes_."

"I promise I'll help," Phil says truthfully. "I just need to give my body time to cool down. I'm literally sweltering."

"Yeah, I can tell." Dan runs his eyes up and down Phil's torso, which is pasted in a light coating of sweat. Phil smiles under his gaze.

"Why don't you join me? Surely you're hot, too," he suggests, and Dan puts down the box he's carrying with a gasp of relief. "You'd be surprised how liberating it feels to starfish on cool tiles when you're naked."

" _Almost_ naked," Dan corrects with a pointed nod to Phil's boxers. "And nope. I'm managing just fine in this _sweltering_ heat and I'm determined to get everything unpacked so I can sleep on something that at least _resembles_ a bed tonight."

"But you're wearing black." Phil gapes at him. "How is your skin not _bleeding_ right now?"

Dan shrugs. "Maybe I have a higher sweat tolerance than you."

" _Sweat tolerance_ ," Phil repeats with a giggle. "Is there even such thing?"

"I don't know, Phil. Why don't you Google it when we've unpacked the internet router?"

The malignant sarcasm in Dan's voice makes Phil both roll his eyes and realise that Dan isn't giving up on this one without a fight. So, reluctantly, he gathers together the remnants of his clothes and pulls them over his damp body until he's so uncomfortable and hot that the prospect of climbing into the freezer for a few hours sounds dreamy.

-

-

' _Hot_ ' is an offensive understatement for how Phil feels right now. He wouldn't wish this feeling upon his worst enemy, even if he was presented the chance on a gold platter.

They've just finished hauling the rest of their possessions upstairs, and the way they're sweating and panting is a testament to that. The abandoned boxes lying in various places across their apartment is also a testament to their hard work, but Phil doesn't want to have to think about those until it's absolutely necessary.

"I don't think..." Dan breathes out his words like he's breathing through a straw. "I don't think my lungs want to be associated with me anymore."

Phil chuckles but immediately groans when the sound abuses his abdomen and pounds against his ribcage.

"I don't think my body wants to be associated with _itself_ right now," he mumbles.

Dan turns painfully on his side to face him.

"That doesn't make any sense."

Phil pouts back. "Nothing makes sense anymore. What is life? What is air?"

Dan giggles. " _Air_ is something we don't seem to have right now."

Phil smiles at him in subdued silence and watches as he stretches out his long limbs across the bathroom floor. After all the hauling of boxes, it hadn't taken much convincing on Phil's behalf to get Dan to lie with him again on the cool floor. Dan was practically sweating _buckets_ by the time the last box had been successfully carried into their apartment, so any argument he would have made in favour of doing anything _other_ than stripping down and cooling off would have been overruled.

They lie in companionable silence for a few minutes as they try to cool off. It's occasionally interrupted by a pathetic wheeze from one of them, but their breathing soon returns to normal.

"Phil?" Dan's voice is soft when it interrupts the silence, but it still comes as a shock. Phil cranes his neck to look at him.

"Yeah?"

"Do you think we made a mistake?"

"A mistake?" Phil repeats gently as he shifts to move a piece of Dan's damp hair away from his forehead. "What kind of mistake?"

Dan breathes out through his nose and leans into the touch.

"Leaving Manchester and moving to London. Did we do the right thing?"

Phil drops his hand to his side as he thinks. _Well, it's too late now even if we have made a mistake_ , Phil's mind points out, but he doesn't voice it.

"I think we made a _risk_ ," he says. "We made the risk to completely drop everything and blow all of our money on this place, but I wouldn't say we made a mistake."

"But things could still go wrong." Dan moves closer to Phil to slide an arm around his waist and rest his head on his shoulder. "With the new radio show and stuff. Things could still go wrong, couldn't they?"

Dan's question sounds more like a cry for reassurance, and it pulls harshly on Phil's heartstrings in all the wrong ways. Phil meets his lips to Dan's forehead and closes his eyes.

"Yeah, of course they could. And they _might_." Phil breathes out a laugh as he tries to imagine them homeless, completely at the mercy of London's busy streets.He has to stop imagining immediately after he starts because there's no way they'd last long on the streets. "But at least we can say we tried."

Dan seems to consider this for a few moments, until he stretches out and breathes a sound of agreement into Phil's neck. They reunite with the comfortable silence again and lie there until Dan starts wriggling around in Phil's arms.

"My back hurts like a _bitch_ ," he groans. "What possibly made me think lying on the floor is a good idea?"

Phil chuckles. "We should probably move anyway. The airbed still needs to be blown up or else we're not gonna have anywhere decent to sleep until we get actual furniture."

" _Wonderful_ ," Dan grumbles as he disentangles himself from Phil. He stands up with deliberate effort and then holds out a hand to Phil, who takes it with a smile and stands up.

Everything is eerily quiet as they make their way to the lounge, but Phil just puts that down to the new-house vibe this place has. Everything still looks and feels artificial, like they've just stepped straight into a home from a magazine picture. There's a lot of living to be done here before things will start to feel homely, but he's sure they'll manage.

Just as he's about to enter the lounge, Dan stops and turns around to face Phil.

"I'll make a start on the airbed while you make us some drinks?" he compromises. Phil sends him a smile and nods, and as Dan turns around again to enter the lounge, Phil grabs his wrist to stop him.

"Dan, just hold on a minute," he says quickly, looking down at their hands as he slots their fingers together.

"Yeah?" Dan's voice is quiet and expectant as he looks between both of Phil's eyes.

It would be helpful if Phil had actually planned what he wants to say right now, but he hasn't a _clue_. In fact, there are a myriad of things Phil could say now that would be quite fitting to their situation. _Thank you_ , maybe? Would it be appropriate to thank Dan? Problem is, he doesn't exactly know what he'd be thanking him _for_. Obviously, they're about to embark upon their new life together in London, but does that warrant verbal gratitude?

Phil looks back up at him with a tender smile.

"You're happy, right?" he asks, bringing Dan's hands to his lips.

There's a smile etching its way across Dan's features as he takes a small step forwards.

"Of course I am."

"Good." Phil smiles and kisses Dan's hands once. "Then I think we made the right decision."

 


End file.
